Wrapped in Love (Boys of Jackson Harbor 4)

“I brought you here because I need to ask you something,” I say, nudging the blue box across the table. My niece informed me that if it wasn’t Tiffany’s, it wasn’t good enough, and while I don’t believe Molly would care if I shopped at Tiffany’s or Walmart, I wanted to get the very best. “Do you know what that is?”

Noah McKinley has chocolate all over his mouth and cupcake frosting on his fingers. He licks his lips, his eyes wide as he peers at the diamond ring inside the box. “A ring,” he says.

I nod. “It’s a special ring, and I want to give it to your mom.”

“Okay.”

“The thing is, I wanted to make sure it was okay with you first. If your mom wears this ring, it means we’re going to be a family forever. You, me, and her.”

Noah licks the frosting off the top of his half-demolished cupcake and gets chocolate frosting on his nose. “We’re already a family. Aren’t we?”

God, I love this kid. He’s right. Molly and Noah have lived with me since before Christmas, and the only thing this ring would change is their last name. It’s a change I want badly. “Yeah, we are. But if your mom marries me, I’ll be her husband and she’ll be my wife.” I wish I could read his thoughts, because suddenly his expression turns solemn. He puts down his cupcake and pokes at it with his finger. “What is it, buddy?”

His forehead wrinkles as he stares at the ring. “You’d be Mommy’s husband?”

I nod, and my stomach knots as his expression grows more unsure. “If she wants me, yeah.”

He returns to his cupcake, poking at the frosting and avoiding my eyes. “Then could you be my dad?”

It’s hard to get the damn words out, but I nod. “If you let me, then I’d like that a lot.”

His head snaps up, and his smile stretches all the way up to his dark eyes. “I’d let you!”

The sound of a shuddering sob pulls my attention from Noah and to the crowded restaurant beyond our table.

“Mommy!” Noah shouts, jumping out of the booth and rushing to wrap his chocolatey hands around her legs.

She stoops to hug her son, but her big blue eyes stay on me. Her flushed cheeks are stained with tears. “I think I ruined the surprise,” she whispers. She scoops Noah into her arms and slides into the booth across from me. “I left the office early and saw your car here, so I thought I’d stop and . . .” She swallows. I can tell she’s trying, but she can’t stop smiling. “Sorry.”

My heart races so fast that I’m surprised I’m not out of breath. “Are you? Sorry?”

She shakes her head and draws in a ragged breath. “No. Not at all.”

Tears stream down her face, and Noah puts his hands on her cheeks, leaving chocolate fingerprints behind. “Will you wear Brayden’s special ring so we can be a family?”

She meets my eyes across the table and reaches for my hand. “We’re already a family.”

“But can he be my dad?” Noah says, bouncing in her lap. “Please?”

She chokes on a sob and kisses the top of her son’s head. “I’d love that.” When she turns her attention back to me, I’ve moved to a knee on the floor by her seat, the ring in my hand.

“I wasn’t supposed to do this here,” I whisper, feeling all the crowd’s attention as it turns to me.

“Do it anyway,” she says.

I drag in a long breath. I was going to prepare a speech and give her the perfect romantic night. But maybe this is better. Because we aren’t perfect. Our love is like our life: intense and unexpected and messy, and I wouldn’t trade it for perfect, even if I could. “I want all the Prince dance parties in my kitchen and movie nights in the family room. I want a thousand more workouts where you yell at my brothers for trying to kill you and . . .” I scan the room and lower my voice. “A lot of other things I’d rather not detail with an audience.”

She laughs.

“You and Noah are already Jacksons. Now I just want to hear it when people say your name. Marry me? Be my wife?”

She offers me her chocolate-smeared left hand. “You had me at Prince.”

I slide on the ring and then rise to pick up Noah. “Sorry, buddy, but I’m going to need you to slide over here for a minute.” I plop him into the booth across from his mom. “I want to kiss my fiancée.” I cup Molly’s face in my hands and lower my mouth to hers.

“Ew!” Noah says. “Enough kisses.”

“Never,” Molly whispers against my mouth, and I smile and kiss her again.